Stomping Through the Savoy Cocktail Book

Menu

BOTW–Ale Flip

Ale FlipPut on the fire in a saucepan one quart of Ale (16 oz Speedway Stout), and let it boil; have ready the whites of two eggs and the yolks of four (er, one egg separated, yolk beaten with 1 teaspoon of caster sugar, and the white beaten to soft peaks), well beaten up separately; add them by degrees to four tablespoonsful of moist sugar, and half a nutmeg grated. When all are well mixed, pour on the boiling Ale by degrees, beating up the mixture continually; then pour it rapidly backward and forward from one jug to another, keeping one jug raised high above the other; till the flip is smooth and finely frothed.

Note: This is a good remedy to take at the commencement of a cold.

The last time I made this, thinking I would make it with a Traditional London Ale, I tried it with Fuller’s London Pride Ale and it was pretty dreadful.

While contemplating making the Ale Flip again, I trying to think of some way to salvage the drink, and it occurred to me that this very old drink was likely made with a beer which was to a certain extent sour, as fermentation with wild yeast was much more common in the time previous to the industrialization of beer production and a better understanding of what exactly yeast is.

However, that would have required me to purchase more beer, and Mrs. Flannestad has lately complaining about the slight build up of undrunk Stouts and Porters in the house. She does not generally enjoy that style of beer, so I only ever drink them on my own.

Anyway, a while back we got this Speedway Stout, and I thought instead of buying some sour beer, I’d try the Ale Flip with Stout. My reasoning went something like Flip->Eggs->Breakfast->Coffee->Espresso Stout!

A HUGE Imperial Stout that weighs in at an impressive 12% ABV! As if that’s not enough, we added pounds of coffee for a little extra kick….Jet Black, with an off-white head. Starts with a strong coffee and dark chocolate sensation, then fades to a multitude of toasty, roasty and caramel malt flavors. Clean and crisp, full- bodied. Warmth from the high alcohol content lightens up the feel.

And my am I glad I did. I may not have enjoyed this drink with London Pride, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with an Spiced Warm Whipped Espresso Stout Custard, essentially what this drink is. In fact, I enjoyed it so, I was kind of bummed when I ran out of flip and had to drink the rest of the beer all on its own.

Just don’t ask us to make this for you during the next Savoy Night at Alembic Bar, as the bartender may react strongly after they read the bizarre recipe.

Though, hm, if we warmed the beer with the wand on the espresso machine, whipped the eggs with the little cream whipping wand, it might not be too bad.

Well, anyway, order it at your own risk. It certainly is a drink which gives you a good amount of respect for what was going on in the 19th Century, (well more like 15th-18th,) Century Tavern.

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the drinks in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, the, uh, Sauterne Cup.